1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fuel preparation devices, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to an improved fuel conditioner to prepare raw natural gas received from an oil field reservoir.
2. Discussion
Natural gas removed from an oil field reservoir is often at insufficient pressure to provide adequate pressure energy to deliver the gas to a gathering network. Compressor units are commonly located at field sites to compress the gas for this purpose. In most instances, the compressors are operated by engines that use the reservoir gas as fuel. However, problems are often encountered with the use of reservoir gas, such as when the gas has a high or variable heating value, and when impurities such as heavy hydrocarbons or hydrogen sulfide occur in the gas makeup. The performance of compressor engines is greatly affected by the heating quality of the fuel; and reservoir gas impurities can result in damage to the engines, leading to high maintenance cost and frequent replacement. The service life and performance quality of compressor engines running on raw reservoir gas is unpredictable at best.
The term impurities, as used in the present disclosure, refers to compounds which are detrimental to the best performance of internal combustion engines. These compounds may be corrosive or may affect the detonation characteristics of the fuel.